Lago di Braies
Scale, light, and a good sense of lingering by the water.
Elopement Photography
Lago di Braies is iconic for a reason – still water held between forest and cliffs, and on the right morning it’s like nowhere else. It’s also one of the most visited places in the Dolomites, so how it feels comes down to timing. As it’s on the German-speaking side of the Dolomites, you’ll see it signed Pragser Wildsee.
According to local folklore the area’s mountains were once guarded by “wild men” who owned gold. When greedy shepherds tried to steal it, the wild men opened springs to flood the valley, creating the lake to protect their riches.
Years from now, a good photograph doesn’t just show you Lake Braies. You can still feel whether it was warm or cold, sense what was in the air, and what it felt like to be there together.
“She captured not just the moments but the essence of the day, whilst making incredible art at the same time.” — Ebony, Dolomites, 2023
An Italian family I lived with as a ragazza alla pari first brought me to the Dolomites in 2007. They’ve stayed with me ever since – the valleys, and the people in them.
My work is anchored in Patgific – a 300-year-old Romansh concept from Graubünden, in the Swiss Alps, about slowing down enough to really enjoy what’s in front of you. Here in the Dolomites the Ladin have their own: sté de bona ueia – to be in good spirits, to enjoy life. Same family of feeling, different peaks.
Raised in a painter’s studio, I look for where the landscape builds its own architecture. At Lake Braies the still water builds it first – the whole mountain doubled and hanging in the reflection – and then the sun clears the ridge and the color comes up through it, redrawing every angle.
“Her work is for those who want their day held with clarity, where moments remain recognisable to themselves, even as they take on the quiet weight of memory.” — The Lane
Navigating the Lake
Renting the boathouse is how you have Lake Braies more or less to yourselves. Early access to the jetty and a wooden boat, out on the water before the day arrives. You won’t be alone; there will be others along the shore, but at that hour they come for the lake at first light, facing the water and the mountains, not the jetty. Couples who went this route, later told me it still felt quite private. Booking opens in February and most slots fill within the hour, so if Lago di Braies matters to you, we plan around that release.
Visiting at sunrise without the boathouse rental is an option when you embrace that you won’t find seclusion – it still gives you the lake at beautiful light.
A visit to the lake in the middle of the day is best as a quick stop, made worthwhile by booking a boat in advance – the “VIP shooting”: you skip the line and get the chance to take a few photos on the jetty before you go out on the water.
In winter the lake is at its quietest. The boats and the jetty come out, the boathouse closes, and the lake freezes over, with the banks deep under snow.
I take only a very small number of couples in the Dolomites each year, so that every day gets the attention and the hand-edited care it asks for.
While a single day is possible, most take around a day and a half – the mountains to yourselves through the quiet hours, first light, last light. Around twelve hours across it. €9000.
Espresso before sunrise, the light going long by evening, and being so present you forget to document it (luckily, I did).